Downy Woodpecker
The Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) is an industrious little bird that frequents parks and woodlots throughout much of North America. While often spotted at backyard feeders with similarly sized chickadees and nuthatches, this black-and-white woodpecker is also at home on tiny branches where it can be seen acrobatically foraging for insect larvae. Roger Tory Peterson described this bird’s call as “a rapid whinny of notes, descending in pitch.” Keep an eye and an ear out for this charismatic little bird; its striking plumage, shrill song and tree-trunk tapping should...
Read MoreIpswich Savannah Sparrow
The Savannah Sparrow is a familiar bird to many of us, abundant in our farmlands, fields, grasslands, shrublands, shores, roadsides, and other open habitats. You can find them across the northern U.S. and Canada during the nesting and migration seasons, and you’ll spot them overwintering in the southern U.S. or Mexico. This particular individual looks a little different than your average Savannah Sparrow – notice anything unusual? It is somewhat larger and heavier that a typical Savannah Sparrow, and its brown shades and yellow eye spot are considerably paler. This is an...
Read MoreBlue Jay Caching
If this Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) looks a little strange…or lumpy…it is because it was hard at work caching last month. All of those acorns will not store (or plant) themselves! They are said to be able to carry five acorns at a time and store several thousand over a productive fall season. I wonder how many it will be able to remember come winter, and how many will be left after squirrels, chipmunks, other rodents or birds take their share… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreNelson’s Sparrow
The October sparrow push continues! A huge flight of nocturnal and diurnal migrant birds have moved through the Northeast region in the wake of last weekend’s cold front, and that timing was about as good as it gets for sparrow lovers. This morning I was wandering around Stratford Point doing some surveying with my dog Zach and recording whatever would pop out of dozens and dozens of songbirds present. He is a large sheltie, and his oversized fox look is very helpful. He assists in hazing waterfowl out of the historic shot fall zone, and in the uplands little birds usually flush then...
Read MorePine Warbler
Here is a Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) that I enjoying finding last weekend during less than optimal migratory conditions on one of those autumn days that feels like the definition of the seasonal transition. And would you look at that, what is it foraging in? Why a White Pine tree, naturally. They are also one of the first warblers to return in the spring when March is finally beginning to break winter’s hold on the Northeast. Pines are a bright little beacon of spring’s light coming in or summer’s glow heading out. We only have a few more weeks to enjoy a variety of...
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